Saxon Interests Inc. Makes New Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,499,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at about $50,715,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after purchasing an additional 273,424 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,782,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $249.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock worth $10,044,174 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.1 %

WSM traded up $3.50 on Thursday, hitting $317.52. 846,884 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,071,424. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.70. The firm has a market cap of $20.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.46.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 24.71%.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.